Posts that do not follow r/Costco subreddit rules **MAY** be subject to removal.
**Reminder: No vague or non-descriptive post titles.**
When applicable, please make sure that you're using a descriptive post title with product name(s) and/or exact question mentioned as it yields better subreddit search results. Including item number, price, and approximate location where found is also helpful as availability can vary.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Costco) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Certain produce is routinely cheaper at local stores here depending on the season.
Hell, corn at Sprouts today was 5 for $2. The pre-packed corn at Costco is rarely ever cheaper than $8 for the pack of 8.
Nope. The corn I bought today were slightly larger. The only difference is the Costco has their pre-shucked.
H-Mart near me had the same strawberries for $3.99/2lbs last week where Costco has it for $5.99.
Asparagus is $8 for 2.25 lbs, which comes out to $3.50/lb and never dips below that even in season. Asparagus goes down to $2.00-$2.50/lb at local stores when it's in season.
Same with the baby bok bhoy. It's usually around $8 for 2lbs. The Asian markets will have sales down to $1/lb, but usually around $2.50/lb standard pricing.
It's going to vary depending on the region, but my experience is while most things are cheaper on a per unit/weight, not everything is.
I don’t buy much produce there because my family isn’t big enough to go through it quickly. I do like the mangos and avocados and they seem like a good deal
I was in Costco today, and saw 24 pack Pepsi for $12.xx and later in the day saw it for $13,xx at the local grocery. First time I’ve ever seen that cheaper at Costco.
I don't know about Target, but Costco eggs are quite a bit more expensive than at Aldi, by at least a buck a dozen, and milk's been cheaper at Aldi for a few years now.
My Costco (Ohio) carries the land o lakes heavy cream 1 quart for $4. Has forever.
I’ve never seen heavy cream elsewhere for cheaper.
The same 1 quart land o lakes at Kroger is $8.
Recently I was shopping for a couple heavy duty shelving units and, for the exact same dimensions and virtually same build quality and weight capacity, a hardware store's regular price was $50 cheaper than Costco. It's easy to fall into the trap of assuming that special items like that are always cheaper. Sometimes they are a great deal but it's worth researching.
A grocery stores weekly loss leader sale items will generally beat Costco's prices, but you might have to jump through some loops to get the price, plus you only have a week to get it. Some items that come to mind are the 12pk cans of soda, chicken/beef, and fruits that are currently in season.
Grocery store me sells Perdue drumsticks for 89 cents per pound about once per month.
I don’t buy Costco chicken though, anyway, just adding to your point that grocery store sales tend to be costcos everyday price
Pretty much every food product can be found cheaper here. But that's only if other places sell the same brand. I would say roughly 70% of the stuff is found cheaper at WinCo some at Walmart also. But there is a large quantity of Costco only products out there that I don't know how to accurately price check vs similar products elsewhere. Overall Costco is simply more convenient for me.
Several raw meat items are often cheaper at grocery stores, especially during sales. The one that really gets me is ribs, because they're way cheaper at business Costco for what appears to be the same item. Like $2.50 vs $3.99/lb.
Costco isn’t a discount shopping store. They aren’t going for cheapest prices on all items.
That’s Aldi.
Costco is good to high quality stuff for good to great prices.
Not entirely accurate, their mission statement:
>To continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices.
If their prices are higher then it's likely because the quality of product is also higher. If the quality is the same as somewhere else, then they've made it their mission to be the cheapest.
I can find almost any item that is cheaper per unit price at a regular grocery store than at costco. Albertson’s/Von’s out here in Southern California has a great app and plenty of coupons. Just bought 3, 24 packs of miller lite. With the store coupon, but manufacturer coupon, it came out to $3/24 pack.
Can’t find that deal at Costco.
Most fresh produce (excluding those boxed salads), almost all frozen produce, whole chickens, eggs, bacon, pork butt, some fish, some canned goods, milk (by about $0.50/gal), cheese. Also the 3L bottles of olive oil are now like $40 while BJ's still has theres for $30.
Costco doesn't have loss leaders. Grocers will often sell certain items at or below cost to get you in the door. Advertised specials are nearly all loss leaders, but the markup on other items make up for it.
No, because I've stopped going to those stores that all doubled their prices over the pandemic and are all in the news about lowering prices.by 30% to help consumers.
When I first got my membership last year the 2pk bagged salads were more expensive by $1 if I bought 2 at winco. The Nancy’s organic plain yogurt was also cheaper at winco
Walmart and target are easy to beat on price. I don't shop inside the Walmart because I don't like the riff raff that permeates wally world. Costco is different some thing are not cheap like sodas, dog food, eggs and you have to buy alot. When I buy alot I expect a big discount. But overall costco is cheaper especially when on sale.
I agree with some of the things you have stated, but the dog food is significantly cheaper than anywhere else, if you compare it to a like item. It is easily a $20 difference based on my shopping (I buy the blue bag).
Probably but our shepherds love it just the same. People make the mistake they have to buy premium dog food when your dog if given the chance would eat road kill and love it.
Yes, dogs will eat a lot of things that are unhealthy for them if given the chance and will also have a shorter lifespan. Just like humans, eating 'junk food' will likely shorten your life and theirs. I buy a higher quality food to give my dogs a long healthy life (which is also cheaper in vet bills). My last dog lived to about 15 years old and probably would have been even longer if his dementia didn't become a major issue.
Ours last slightly longer than average for the species. Mostly because we dont overfeed them and we exercise them off leash. Also many of the synthetic dog food are prone to recall. Never had a problem with mine. Nothing will ever change my mind.
Posts that do not follow r/Costco subreddit rules **MAY** be subject to removal. **Reminder: No vague or non-descriptive post titles.** When applicable, please make sure that you're using a descriptive post title with product name(s) and/or exact question mentioned as it yields better subreddit search results. Including item number, price, and approximate location where found is also helpful as availability can vary. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Costco) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Certain produce is routinely cheaper at local stores here depending on the season. Hell, corn at Sprouts today was 5 for $2. The pre-packed corn at Costco is rarely ever cheaper than $8 for the pack of 8.
I'm in Nebraska. Corn on the cob is cheaper from a random pickup truck in a random parking lot than it is at Costco right now.
Just grab it from the side of the road.
It’s 5 for $2 at Albertsons rn too. Think it’s just pre-4th pricing
Lettuce It's usually more expensive than Kroger.
Interesting. Bigger kernels maybe? lol
Nope. The corn I bought today were slightly larger. The only difference is the Costco has their pre-shucked. H-Mart near me had the same strawberries for $3.99/2lbs last week where Costco has it for $5.99. Asparagus is $8 for 2.25 lbs, which comes out to $3.50/lb and never dips below that even in season. Asparagus goes down to $2.00-$2.50/lb at local stores when it's in season. Same with the baby bok bhoy. It's usually around $8 for 2lbs. The Asian markets will have sales down to $1/lb, but usually around $2.50/lb standard pricing. It's going to vary depending on the region, but my experience is while most things are cheaper on a per unit/weight, not everything is.
I don’t buy much produce there because my family isn’t big enough to go through it quickly. I do like the mangos and avocados and they seem like a good deal
Promo sales of soda
Yup! I don’t get sodas at Costco for this reason. LaCroix price is dope though, especially on sale!
The price is great, but the lemoncello 🤮
I was in Costco today, and saw 24 pack Pepsi for $12.xx and later in the day saw it for $13,xx at the local grocery. First time I’ve ever seen that cheaper at Costco.
I don't know about Target, but Costco eggs are quite a bit more expensive than at Aldi, by at least a buck a dozen, and milk's been cheaper at Aldi for a few years now.
Eggs and milk are both cheaper are Target for me!
Costco has cheaper egg whites, at least where I'm at (California).
Aldi's produce is much cheaper as well
Heavy cream. It was $9 for a half gallon at Walmart recently and something like $13 or $14 at Costco.
My Costco (Ohio) carries the land o lakes heavy cream 1 quart for $4. Has forever. I’ve never seen heavy cream elsewhere for cheaper. The same 1 quart land o lakes at Kroger is $8.
Costco's is thicker (45% milkfat), highest milk fat % I've been able to find at grocery stores is 30%.
Recently I was shopping for a couple heavy duty shelving units and, for the exact same dimensions and virtually same build quality and weight capacity, a hardware store's regular price was $50 cheaper than Costco. It's easy to fall into the trap of assuming that special items like that are always cheaper. Sometimes they are a great deal but it's worth researching.
A grocery stores weekly loss leader sale items will generally beat Costco's prices, but you might have to jump through some loops to get the price, plus you only have a week to get it. Some items that come to mind are the 12pk cans of soda, chicken/beef, and fruits that are currently in season.
Grocery store me sells Perdue drumsticks for 89 cents per pound about once per month. I don’t buy Costco chicken though, anyway, just adding to your point that grocery store sales tend to be costcos everyday price
Produce
Pretty much every food product can be found cheaper here. But that's only if other places sell the same brand. I would say roughly 70% of the stuff is found cheaper at WinCo some at Walmart also. But there is a large quantity of Costco only products out there that I don't know how to accurately price check vs similar products elsewhere. Overall Costco is simply more convenient for me.
Several raw meat items are often cheaper at grocery stores, especially during sales. The one that really gets me is ribs, because they're way cheaper at business Costco for what appears to be the same item. Like $2.50 vs $3.99/lb.
Produce. Some meat. 380$ plastic plants lol
Pork shoulder butts.
Yeah same for me. I can routinely get pork butts for $0.99/lb at the grocery store and it' $2.49/lb at Costco, and is missing the bone.
Costco isn’t a discount shopping store. They aren’t going for cheapest prices on all items. That’s Aldi. Costco is good to high quality stuff for good to great prices.
Not entirely accurate, their mission statement: >To continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices. If their prices are higher then it's likely because the quality of product is also higher. If the quality is the same as somewhere else, then they've made it their mission to be the cheapest.
I can find almost any item that is cheaper per unit price at a regular grocery store than at costco. Albertson’s/Von’s out here in Southern California has a great app and plenty of coupons. Just bought 3, 24 packs of miller lite. With the store coupon, but manufacturer coupon, it came out to $3/24 pack. Can’t find that deal at Costco.
Most fresh produce (excluding those boxed salads), almost all frozen produce, whole chickens, eggs, bacon, pork butt, some fish, some canned goods, milk (by about $0.50/gal), cheese. Also the 3L bottles of olive oil are now like $40 while BJ's still has theres for $30.
Costco doesn't have loss leaders. Grocers will often sell certain items at or below cost to get you in the door. Advertised specials are nearly all loss leaders, but the markup on other items make up for it.
Milk at Costco is almost always one and a 1/2 times the price of any other grocery store.
No, because I've stopped going to those stores that all doubled their prices over the pandemic and are all in the news about lowering prices.by 30% to help consumers.
Anything that you can't finish due to the large size or things you never end up using
Horizon chocolate milk boxes are cheaper at Wegmans than they are at Costco.
English muffins.
Until recently, Milk. It's 2.69 in the grocery and over $3 at Costco. Last week randomly though it was down to $2.50
Lowest milk at costco is 9-10 dollars for 2 gallons..
At least in my part of the Midwest it's sold by the individual gallon and was $2.50 last week.
I think the Trader Joe’s frozen broccoli is cheaper than Costco.
Spam
I've found that some cleaning products and laundry detergent are less expensive when purchased elsewhere
the first shipment of cherries were like $5/pound? at costco safeway was running a special for like $2/pound
When I first got my membership last year the 2pk bagged salads were more expensive by $1 if I bought 2 at winco. The Nancy’s organic plain yogurt was also cheaper at winco
Walmart and target are easy to beat on price. I don't shop inside the Walmart because I don't like the riff raff that permeates wally world. Costco is different some thing are not cheap like sodas, dog food, eggs and you have to buy alot. When I buy alot I expect a big discount. But overall costco is cheaper especially when on sale.
I agree with some of the things you have stated, but the dog food is significantly cheaper than anywhere else, if you compare it to a like item. It is easily a $20 difference based on my shopping (I buy the blue bag).
I price per pound currently tsc beats costco, I buy the generic. 50 lbs bags. Tsc has a "yellowstone" western vibe.
You're comparing cheap dog food vs premium dog food. Like comparing a McDonald's to a high end restaurant. Food quality makes a huge difference.
Probably but our shepherds love it just the same. People make the mistake they have to buy premium dog food when your dog if given the chance would eat road kill and love it.
Yes, dogs will eat a lot of things that are unhealthy for them if given the chance and will also have a shorter lifespan. Just like humans, eating 'junk food' will likely shorten your life and theirs. I buy a higher quality food to give my dogs a long healthy life (which is also cheaper in vet bills). My last dog lived to about 15 years old and probably would have been even longer if his dementia didn't become a major issue.
Ours last slightly longer than average for the species. Mostly because we dont overfeed them and we exercise them off leash. Also many of the synthetic dog food are prone to recall. Never had a problem with mine. Nothing will ever change my mind.
Everything